Biography of Funke Akindele

Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele Bello is a famous Nigerian Actress and comedian also popularly known as Funke Akindele or Jenifa. She was born in 1976 in Lagos state, Nigeria. She rose to stardom in 2009 when she received the Africa Movie Academy Award as the Best Actress.

Funke Akindele is well known for her ground breaking Yoruba movie Jenifa and the famous hilarious but educative series Jenifa’s Diary. As with many other Nigerian Artists, news about Funke’s life is filled with speculations and of course a little bit of drama. On this page, iDONSABI.com brings you a full bio of Funke Akindele and her life as a Nigerian celebrity.

Funke Jenifa
Funke Jenifa

Funke Akindele Early life

Funke Akindele was born in Ikorodu Lagos, Nigeria on the 24th of August, 1976 to a medical doctor (her mom) and retired school principal (her dad). She is the second child of three children. Funke attended the Ogun State Polytechnic (now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic) where she bagged an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Mass Communication. She also proceeded to obtain a law degree from the prestigious University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba.

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Funke Akindele Rise to Fame

Funke’s rise to fame started when she was featured in the popular TV drama I Need to Know, sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund. This series was on air between the period of 1998 to 2002 and marked the beginning of her acting career. However, since she made her ground breaking movie, Jenifa, which earned her a good number of well recognised awards, she has been making big waves in the movie industry. Funke has featured in about a hundred movies either as an actress, writer or producer.

Her famous series, Jenifa’s Diary is one of the most watched Nigerian TV series of all time.

In 2018, it was rumoured that Funke Akindele has been listed on the cast of a Hollywood movie Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. The news brought the actress into global limelight but it was soon revealed that her name was replaced by that of Genevieve Nnaji, another Nigerian Actress a few weeks later. As reported, her name appearing on the cast was the result of a hack.

Funke Akindele is an ambassador of a number of brands and organisations including Keystone Bank and IrokoTv.

Funke Akindele Awards and Nominations

Funke has a lot of awards to her name. In the year 2009, she was awarded the Best Actress in a leading role by the Africa Movie Academy Award through her movie Jenifa. The movie was nominated in over four categories at the awards.

Jenifa’s Diary

Below is a list of some of her awards with year.

2012 – Nigeria Entertainment Awards, Best of Nollywood Awards, Nollywood Movies Awards (2012 and 2013)

2014- Nigerian Entertainment Awards, Africa Magic Choice Awards (2014 and 2016

2016- Ghana Movies Awards, African Entertainment Legends Award.

Funke Akindele Net Worth

Funke Akindele’s estimated net worth is gathered to be around $700, 000 which is equivalent to about 245 million naira. She has a number of assets in her name including cars and houses.

Funke is also the founder of a charity organisation known as ‘The Jenifa Foundation’ where she concentrates on building and nurturing talents as well as vocational training. In addition, she is the CEO of the infamous Scene One Film Productions where Jenifa’s Diary is presented.

Funke Akindele Relationship

Funke has had quite an eventful past as regards relationship. Her first marriage was to a man named Adeola kehinde Oloyede Al Maroof. Her wedding to Oloyede was in May 2012. However by July of 2013, as a result of some disputes the couple could not resolve, they had a divorce.

Funke Akindele caught the love bug again in the year 2016 and got married to a popular Nigerian rapper, Bello Rasheed also known as JJC Skillz. It was a secret wedding which took place in the UK in May, 2016.

In 2017, it was rumoured that Funke got pregnant and for an entire week in August 2017, google reported that “Funke Akindele Pregnancy” was one of the most searched phrases in Nigeria.

Funke Akindele Children

Funke Akindele was blessed with twins, two beautiful boys in December 2018. The news took over the social media after she posted a discreet message on Instagram suggesting the boys’ birth. The message:

“Thank You Lord. Oluwa o Tobi. Mo je oruko titun”

In English this means “Thank you Lord. God is great. I am now being called a new name”

It is believed that this new name is “mother” as she is now a mother.

Funke, JJC Skillz, her twin boys and her step children
Funke, her husband, JJC Skillz, and their children.

This was followed by a massive show of love from all her friends, fans and family with congratulatory messages flying all over the internet. In addition, Funke has a number of step children through her husband, JJC Skillz.

Funke Akindele Latest Movies

Funke has starred in several movies both English and Yoruba.  Her latest movies include Chief Daddy, Isoken, A Trip to Jamaica, Moms at War. Others are Jenifa, Egun, Taiwo Taiwo, Oun Ife, Aje Meta, ojo Ketala (13th day), Atlanta, Ladies gang, Agbara Ife, The Return of Jenifa and a host of others.

Funke Akindele is well loved by her fans and is one the celebrities with the highest number of followers on Instagram, over 6 million. She remains a role model and inspiration to many.

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